Even Batman Not Sure About This Ben Affleck Casting Report Amidst “Batfleck” Backlash

Yesterday evening, while the Internet was disarmed and distracted by those Peter-Dinklage-hula-hooping-in-a-gay-bar-in-Canada pictures, it was struck with news that Ben Affleck—the Oscar-winning filmmaker still being crucified for 2003'sGigli—will inherit the Dark Knight suit in Zack Snyder's Superman vs. Batman movie. (Against Val Kilmer’s many precautions.) Once the Internet regained consciousness from this perceived casting blow, it proceeded to do what it does best—regurgitate the same cynicisms in every shade of snark. Among the most popular and most translated reactions:

Have you even SEEN Daredevil?

I would rather see Ben Affleck direct the Man of Steelsequel with Zack Snyder starring as Batman.

I will not even waste my Redbox free code to rent this movie.

Twitter’s most popular Batman impersonator, with more than 470,000 followers, even got in on the Ben-Affleck-as-Batman-bashing:

Despite this epic casting takedown, it appears as though the Internet has alread progressed through its Cynical Spit-take and Parody Hashtag (#BetterBatmanThanBenAffleck was trending) stages of grief to reach the therapeutic Batfleck Meme tier of disaster recovery. At this rate, the Internet will surely have overcome its negative feelings with the help of many “In Defense of Ben Affleck as Batman” editorials to root for the “Batfleck” underdog by the time Snyder’s superhero mash-up reaches theaters on July 17, 2015.

Yesterday evening, Warner Bros. announced the controversial casting with the following statement from Snyder: “Ben provides an interesting counter-balance to Henry’s Superman. . . He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne. I can’t wait to work with him.”
Meanwhile, Deadline reminds us that this casting decision was not totally out of left field—Affleck has a strong relationship with Warner Bros. after directing this year's Oscar-winning W.B. feature Argo, and agreeing to direct his next feature, Live by Night, with the studio.

As of now, Affleck has not commented on the news—smartly leaving that up to the experts.